Ryback Says Rusev Is In Contract Negotiations With WWE, Talks Mike Kanellis Requesting His Release

Former WWE Superstar Ryback and Wrestling Inc.'s very own President, Raj Giri, took some time during the most recent edition of Ryback TV to discuss Mike Kanellis' post on Twitter that revealed his request to be released from WWE. Ryback thinks that Mike may have went the social media route because the communication between Triple H, Vince McMahon, and Mark Carrano is limited, so you never know if all the information is being passed along.

"I don't know if he had asked them and then they kind of didn't give him an answer – sometimes when you go and do that they'll respond with, 'Oh, we'll get back to you.' Or he went to Mark Carrano and Carrano doesn't say anything to Triple H or Vince McMahon, and then you get frustrated so then you go voice your opinion on Twitter," Ryback explained. "I don't know, he may have talked to Vince or Hunter but ultimately, we go to social media. The company has no choice but to acknowledge it because it's being talked about, so I understand the psychology on doing that. I have done that with different things as well. I think he needs to get out of there because what they have done with him – when there were issues going on, Maria Kanellis has been vocal in the past and then they re-signed those contracts with whatever they re-signed for. May have been good enough for them but it's not s**t for WWE. I've seen them give people down there who had received a good amount of money, and they use you good for a quick little bit, and then they turn it, and then they start playing those games with you because you're another toy. You signed over your rights to play with you."

Ryback believes that the storyline Mike and Maria were involved in, where Maria would constantly ridicule Mike and claim he wasn't the legitimate father of her child, would have done nothing but taint Mike's career overall. He went in-depth creatively about what direction the storyline could have taken if it continued.

"Personally, I would have never done the storyline that Mike was doing with Maria; I would have gone there and not done it. Again, it's up to you if you want to play that role. What they are doing, and this is something people have to understand, they are humiliating him, not from a wrestling standpoint but from a man's standpoint, to make him look like a little b—h. Like, he's a little b—h that his wife runs all over and he's a s***ty pro wrestler based on how they use him. He doesn't stand up for himself. So what they do is they do that to you, so on social media he handles those ramifications from the people who think it's real, and talk s**t and what not because they know you are going to go through all of that on social media. When you do that, if you are on social media, then there is also no payoff for this. He's not going to come out of this angle and then be the f***ing man after this. He's going to get run down, eventually the angle will be squashed, then he's going to be made even a bigger b**ch and then they are not going to be on TV for a bit, and then they are either going to fire him or put him in random matches. Your value will keep getting brought down and brought down so by the time the 5-year contract is up he no longer has any value."

Ryback thinks that this treatment of Mike will follow him in the future regardless of what he chooses to do in life because WWE has stamped him a "loser". With Ryback's experience in the company, he claims that this is just another example of Vince McMahon's mind games.

"The vision is glued in people's eyes that he is a loser, and it makes it really difficult for him to do other things in life because the perception of you is that you are a loser, and the ultimate loser. I think he is wise to get out of there," Ryback stated. "He is not going to be allowed to go out there to have good matches with people or have time. And like I said from a creative standpoint, if guys were allowed to go out there during live events and just have 20-minute matches and then go on TV and do whatever – which in my case was a lot of the time. I was fulfilled on live events, and I got to go out there and get the reactions that I can get, and have the matches that I knew I can have, and then you go on TV and you're going to have a 3-minute squash, which was okay with me because that would put me more over with the audience that we are going for. Or you are going to go and not have a long match and you are going to lose, but it doesn't reflect how you are wrestling on live events. But if you are not getting that and are sitting at home, it'll just drive you crazy. This is a direct result of Vince McMahon and the mind games he plays with people. I'm 100% right on this. I've seen it and gone through it on different things."

Ryback believes that another current WWE Superstar, Rusev, has been put into a similar situation with his storyline against Bobby Lashley over Lana's affection. He claims that the storyline will play out a certain way depending on whether or not Rusev signs a new contract with WWE. If he does sign, the storyline will make Rusev look great as it proceeds. But if he does not, Ryback believes that WWE will make sure to humiliate Lana and Rusev on their way out of WWE.

"I can tell you for a fact with the angle with Rusev, he's in contract negotiations right now," Ryback explained. "I love Rusev. I talk to him but I think he's f**ing stupid for doing this angle. And I mean that from a fact that, yes, it is acting and it is fake, but they now have control over your character over a really s**ty angle that could be humiliating if you choose not to re-sign. He's going to look horrendous in all of this. They got him. They put him in a s–tty angle while contract negotiations are going on. If he re-signs, he's going to look really good in it and then they are going to use him for a bit, and then it's going to go back to what he has done. Or he's going to choose not to re-sign and they are going to humiliate those two like no other. It is my opinion but I have seen it done before. Again, I love Rusev, but that is what is going on in this situation; unless he did re-sign and it's going to pay off huge for him.

"It's still a very odd thing with real-life couples. The thing with Shawn Spears, he may have had a conversation with Vince McMahon and was able to get out of it. And again, I don't know if Mike has, but from a perception standpoint. that is the last thing that they would want is for talent to go on social media. and b—h. and get their way. That for them is a, 'No they can't keep doing that.'"

Peter Bahi contributed to this article.